MINDFUL that the Charter of the Organization of American States
establishes in its preamble “that representative democracy is an
indispensable condition for the stability, peace and development of the
region”;

BEARING IN MIND the Declaration of Quebec City, which states that
“the maintenance and strengthening of the rule of law and strict respect
for the democratic system are, at the same time, a goal and a shared
commitment,” and the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas,
which confers on the Organization important mandates to strengthen
democracy;

BEARING IN MIND ALSO that the ministers of foreign affairs of the
Americas, meeting at a special session of the General Assembly in Lima,
Peru, adopted the Inter-American Democratic Charter for the promotion,
defense, and consolidation of democracy in the Hemisphere, which states that
“the peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy and their
governments have an obligation to promote and defend it” and that
“democracy is essential for the social, political, and economic
development of the peoples of the Americas”;

NOTING WITH SATISFACTION the Report of the Secretary General on the
Strategy for Disseminating the Inter-American Democratic Charter;

CONSIDERING the advisability of strengthening ties of cooperation and
coordination among the policy-making bodies of the Organization with the
various organs, agencies, and entities of the inter-American system, with a
view to strengthening democracy; and

HAVING SEEN the Report of the Permanent Council and the Report of the
Chair of the Working Group on Representative Democracy,

RESOLVES:

1.To reaffirm its
commitment to the principles of democracy, as expressed in the
Inter-American Democratic Charter, and its determination to assign the
highest priority to developing programs and activities to promote democratic
principles and practices in the work of the Organization.

c.To promote the
activities recommended in the Report of the Secretary General on the
Strategy for Disseminating the Inter-American Democratic Charter
(CP/doc.3550/02); and

d.To contribute to the
Fund for Strengthening Democracy, the Peace Fund, and the Permanent Specific
Fund to Finance Activities Related to OAS Electoral Observation Missions.

3.To instruct the
Permanent Council, in the context of the mandates issued by the heads of
state and government at the Third Summit of the Americas and those of the
Inter-American Democratic Charter:

a.To hold a special
session by April 2003 to review actions undertaken by the Organization in
calendar year 2002 to promote and strengthen democracy, in order to
determine such additional actions as may be deemed appropriate;

b.To pursue
comprehensive consideration of the topics identified as priorities in the
Summits of the Americas process and in the Inter-American Democratic Charter
regarding the promotion and consolidation of democracy, through an ongoing
dialogue in which all the entities of the inter-American system participate,
along with governmental and academic experts; and

c.To continue providing
any necessary guidance to the General Secretariat with respect to the
activities it carries out in the area of democracy and, in particular, to
the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD), on the basis of priorities
established in the inter-American agenda.

4.Also to instruct the
Permanent Council, with support from the General Secretariat, to hold a
special meeting on the topic “Women’s Participation in Political
Processes,” in September 2002, in accordance with resources allocated in
the program-budget and other resources.

5.To congratulate the UPD
for its work, and to urge it to continue to support the member states in
their efforts to strengthen democratic institutions and processes and to
develop a democratic culture, as reflected in its work plan and reports.

6.To request the General
Secretariat:

a.To
coordinate, through the UPD, the activities and programs of the various
organs, units, and offices of the OAS relating to the promotion of
representative democracy, so as to give appropriate attention to fulfilling
the mandates on the inter-American agenda; and

b.To
present, through the UPD, quarterly progress reports on the implementation
of its work plan.

7.To instruct the
Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-third
regular session on the implementation of this resolution.